Helping ends meet for Syrian refugees in Jordan

Mother-of-six Maya had to leave behind her a life of sunset strolling in the park with her husband and evening meals with the family for a damp house in a refugee camp in Jordan. In winter, water comes through the leaky ceiling, and in summer it’s stiflingly hot.

Before coming to Jordan, Maya and her husband moved their whole family by motorbike from village to village, trying to stay ahead of the bombings. But one day, the village they were staying in was completely destroyed. They knew they had no choice but to join the thousands of others who’d crossed the border in search of safety.

Crowded into the back of a truck, the family choked on dust and dirt as the drivers drove a convoluted route through the desert to avoid military attack. Once inside Jordan, they were bussed from place to place, sleeping in tents and never staying long in one location.

Now the family ekes out a living on what little work Elias, Maya’s husband, can pick up. Act for Peace’s partner in Jordan helps Maya’s family with health checks, as well as food supplies to help to feed their six children, but life is still very hard. “Everything is so expensive here,” says Maya. “We make the food last by making the dishes smaller.”

As well as health support and ration packs, Act for Peace’s partner provides psychosocial support for people who have been traumatised by their experiences, and help with schooling and training to enable them to complete their education and find work.

Most of the work is done by volunteers, mainly refugees themselves. This saves money and ensures aid reaches the people who need it most, as well as giving refugees the power to help their own communities.

“We hope for Syria to be stable and secure again. We want to go back to Syria again and live in security and stability with our family. Our home town is very precious to us and we just want our home again. A big thank you to the Australian people,” says Maya.

Key fact:
More than half the population of Syria has become refugees or been internally displaced since the conflict began 5 years ago.

The difference your gifts to the Christmas Bowl are making:
Act for Peace’s partner DSPR, Department of Service to Palestinian Refugees, has been working on the ground for 65 years. Their local staff is part of the community, speak the language and are extremely well trusted. Thanks to your gifts to the Christmas Bowl, our local partner in Jordan can support Syrian refugees by providing food rations, healthcare, hygiene and sanitation, psychological support, livelihoods program and education.

Gallery

Act for Peace partner DSPR also provide monthly medical days for refugees and various other services. Food distrbution Souf camp.Photo credit: Ben Littlejohn

Refugees who fled the conflict in Syria are now surviving in extremely difficult urban conditions in Jordan. Act for Peace is helping to provide rations and other essential support for these vulnerable people. Photo credit: Ben Littlejohn

The Syrian conflict situation escalated in 2013 and again in 2015. It is estimated that over one million Syrian refugees have now fled to Jordan. Photo credit: Ben Littlejohn

Act for Peace is working with its partners DSPR Jordan to provide urgently needed food packs, hygiene packs and clothing packs as well as psychosocial support to families who have fled the conflict. Photo credit: Ben Littlejohn

A girl standing next to a tent in Zaatari refugee camp in Northern Jordan. Photo credit: Ben Littlejohn

1 of

$65

Clothing Parcels

$65 this gift will help provide warm clothing for children who were forced to flee the war in Syria with nothing but the clothes on their backs.

Other Christmas Bowl stories

Your privacy is important to us. Act for Peace collects your personal information in order to keep you informed about our projects, activities and opportunities to take action. By providing your information you are agreeing that Act for Peace may use it to contact you in the future. You can opt out of future communications, or contact us with any queries, by emailing info@actforpeace.org.au, calling 1800 025 101 or writing to Act for Peace, Locked Bag Q199, QVB NSW 1230. To reduce overheads we may provide your information to trusted suppliers who provide services on our behalf (including mail, data, phone, IT, processing and research). Our privacy policy www.actforpeace.org.au/privacy contains information about: (i) how we collect, store and use, plus how you can access and correct your personal information; (ii) how you can lodge a complaint regarding the handling of your information; and (iii) how any complaint will be handled by Act for Peace.

Act for Peace is a member of the Australian Council for International Development (ACFID) and a signatory to the ACFID Code of Conduct and Fundraising Charter, which commits international aid and development organisations to good standards of governance, transparency, accountability and effectiveness.

Act for Peace is a member of the ACT Alliance, a global network of grass-roots aid organisations working together in over 140 countries. Together we mobilise about $1.5 billion each year to create positive and sustainable change in the lives of poor and marginalised people regardless of their religion, politics, gender, sexual orientation, race or nationality in keeping with the highest international codes and standards.